Pool equipment stolen twice from Las Vegas homeowner

By Katie Crowther

CREATED Jul. 5, 2012

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  • Thieves are going after pool equipment in backyards, as a quick source of cash. One valley homeowner has been targeted twice in just a few months. With no where else to turn, he contacted Action News to shed light on the problem. Video by ktnv.com

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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- Thieves are going after pool equipment in backyards as a quick source of cash. One valley homeowner has been targeted twice in just a few months. With no where else to turn, he contacted Action News to shed light on the problem.

"It has to be the same people," says William O'Malley, who bought the home near Sahara and Buffalo, less than a year ago. "They felt incredibly comfortable coming here in the middle of the day and taking all this stuff. Then, to come back to the same place and do the same thing? It's like they're above the law, and have no fear of recourse or punishment. It's horrible. We don't feel safe."

O'Malley says both times his pool equipment was stolen, the backyard bandits broke through the locks on his gate.

Ron Mecham --  a pool repairman, and the owner of Lifeguard Pools -- says he's seeing a lot of these cases. He attributes most of his business to the damage done by these brazen criminals.

"They'll go ahead and take a saw or a hammer and just beat the pipe off," Mecham describes. "They'll cut the wires. They want to be in and out of the backyard as quickly as possible. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment gone in a matter of minutes."

Police says they're actively trying to put a stop to the problem but the stolen equipment can often be hard to trace. Detectives monitor websites like Craigslist to try and track down the stolen parts.

"A lot of the stuff you see for sale on some of those websites are stolen parts they reconditioned," Mecham says. "Once they clean them up, they turnaround and sell them to investors, or just people on the street."

Mecham urges neighbors to look out for each other.  "It never hurts when you see someone working on a property to get a license plate number. Even just saying hi to a person could be telling. If they act like they don't belong there, then they probably don't."

Police also recommend security systems and strong locks.

When buying pool equipment, make sure it comes with a warranty and is from a reputable source.